Chapter 10

The week prior to the Kentucky Derby had many parties and events before the day of the big race. As royalty, Sadir and Jaxon were invited to all of them. They decided to only go to the parties their friends held. Sadir knew most of the invitations were for show by the host, he was not going to be on display to further someone’s reputation.

Jaxon was getting sitting at her vanity table putting on her jewelry. They had one last party to attend before the race. She started to feel faint and wanted to lie down for a moment, but the bed seems so far away at the moment. She called out to Sadir who was taking a shower, she heard the shower still running and figured he didn’t hear her. She tried to stand, but her head spun terrible and she started to feel nauseated. She called out for Sadir again, this time he came running out of the bathroom in his robe.

"What’s wrong?" he said, going to her side.

"I’m not feeling well. I’m dizzy and sick to my stomach," she said, leaning on him. "Help me to bed please."

He helped her to their bed then rang for his butler, ordering him to call the doctor. He went to the bathroom and got a cold cloth, placing it on her forehead. "We are not going to the party."

"You can still go. I’m sure this is nothing."

"You can’t stand or walk. I wouldn’t say this is nothing. Are you in any pain?"

"No. I told you how I was feeling," she snapped.

"I’m sorry. I only want to make sure you and the baby are okay," he said, holding her.

"I shouldn’t have snapped at you. Blame it on how bad I feel."

"The doctor will be here soon. I promise not to upset you anymore."

By the time the doctor got there, she was feeling a little better. The doctor checked her out and found her blood pressure was high. He wanted to admit her to the hospital to run a few tests.

She bulked at the idea, wanting to be at the race tomorrow. She told the doctor she would go straight to the hospital after the race.

Sadir pleaded with her to go now and get it over with before the race, but she was scared they would find something and she would miss it. Knowing how stubborn she was, he told the doctor he would hire a nurse to be with her tomorrow and take care of her. Then he would make sure she got to the hospital for tests.

After the doctor left and Sadir had talked to his people to find a nurse for the Princess, he went back to their room. He saw Asma coming from the bathroom with the wet cloth and placing it on Jaxon’s forehead. He smiled, watching her from the doorway. If Jaxon moved an inch, she was telling her to lay still and rest. He felt Jaxon might have met her match.

"Asma, thank you for watching her while I was tending to other things," he said, bending down to kiss her head.

"She wants to sit up. I told her she had to stay lying down."

"She is worse than you are at babying me," Jaxon said, removing the cloth.

"She is doing as I asked; making sure you follow the doctor’s orders. You are not to get out of that bed unless it is absolutely necessary."

"Fine, may I go to the bathroom? I do find that necessary," she said, laughing.

"I guess we should let you go that far," Asma said. "I will help you, Princess."

"Thank you, honey," Jaxon said, taking her hand.

"I will be waiting here. Call out if you need me."

Asma helped Jaxon back to bed when she was finished then said good night to each of them. Sadir changed into is pajamas getting in bed next to Jaxon. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, you really didn’t have to miss the party. I have a full staff to take care of me. I could have even called Sebastian to come over," she said.

"My place is here with you, not some dull party. I would not have been a good guest. My thoughts would have been on you," he said, kissing her cheek.

"I’m going to be fine. You’ll see."

"I believe you, but I want the doctors to make sure."

"I give up! Good night, my prince," she said, turning over away from him. She was worried as well even though she was feeling much better. She had read that most women have trouble with their blood pressure during pregnancy; she was one of them.

"I’m sorry if I made you angry. It was not my intension," Sadir said, putting his arm over her, pulling her closer to him.

"I’m not upset exactly, just a little frustrated. Blame it on the hormones affected by the pregnancy," she said when their private phone started ringing.

Sadir reached over her to answer it. "Hello?" he said, greeted on the other end by Tariq.

"I hope I am not interrupting anything," Tariq said. "I only wanted to tell you that I won’t have a horse competing tomorrow."

"Giving up knowing you will lose?" Sadir said, laughing.

"No. I am sad to say I have scratched Shadowy Warrior. He tore a tendon during practice this afternoon," he explained.

"I’m sorry, brother. Will he recover in time for the next race?"

"I hope he will. If not there will be other races," Tariq said. "Good luck to you and the Princess tomorrow."

"I should let you know the Princess was ill earlier. She is feeling fine now that the doctor has seen her. I have hired a nurse to look after her while we are at the Derby tomorrow," Sadir explained.

"I was about to ask why you were not here at the party. I will give the host your regrets if you wish," Tariq offered.

"I would appreciate that. I was too concern about Jaxon to have a call made."

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" Tariq asked.

"Hold on one moment." Sadir noticed Jaxon wanted to know what was going on. "Jaxon sends her regrets about Warrior not racing tomorrow."

"I thank her. Please tell her I will still be there to watch Glory Rose win," he said with his competitive nature coming through.

"We will see. Alamgeer is showing much improvement on his time. I believe he will win."

"Shall we make our usual wager, Brother?"

"Yes, fifty thousand to the winner."

"Agreed. See you both tomorrow. Good night."

Against his wishes, Jaxon went straight to the stalls to see Ben Crane. After the Santa Anita race, she asked him to take over training Glory Rose. He was an old friend of her grandmother’s. In fact, Gloria had almost married his father years ago, but things didn’t work out. She never knew why they stopped seeing each other and neither did Ben know when she asked.

Ben was looking Glory over when Jaxon arrived with her nurse in tow. Sadir had stopped a few stalls away to check on his horse. Ben’s daughter, Cale was there with him and she was the first to greet Jaxon.

"Hello, Princess," she said, curtsying.

"Hello, Cale. You are tuning into a heartbreaker. Do you have a boyfriend yet?"

"Hold on there! My daughter is not going to date until she is much older," Ben said, laughing. "Hello, Jaxon."

"Hello, Ben. How is Glory Rose doing today?"

"She is ready to race. She told me she was going to win by three furlongs. I think she was exaggerating a little."

"I guess we will have to watch and find out for sure," Jaxon said, smiling.

"Princess, who is that lady?" Cale asked, noticing the nurse sticking close by.

"Well, your friend Sadir got worried last night when I wasn’t feeling well. He goes a bit overboard sometimes," Jaxon said, winking. So he hired a nurse to look over me.

"Are you okay now?" she asked.

"Yes, I am feeling much better."

"Princess, we should go to the box. You promised the Prince not to overdo yourself," the nurse said.

"Yes, I guess I should." Jaxon turned to see Tariq talking with Sadir. She walked over to them before heading to the owner’s box.

"Hello, Tariq. I really am sorry about Warrior," Jaxon said.

"It is unfortunate but now I can spend more time with my favorite Princess," he said, kissing her hand.

"You asked him to do this?" she asked Sadir.

"He did not. I offered my services. You and I rarely have time to speak with each other. I thought this would be a good opportunity."

"Oh, I get it. You want to sweet talk me into forgetting our bet. Under the circumstances, I believe we can drop it," Jaxon said, taking his arm while they walked.

"Let’s leave the wager, but I will bet on my brother’s horse to win."

"That is an interesting idea. You have a deal, Prince Tariq."

Tariq and Jaxon were engrossed in a conversation about breeding when Sadir made it to the box. "You two seem to be having a good time together. As I was walking Alamgeer down, I looked up and you barely noticed me. I was heartbroken," he said to her.

"I blew you a kiss. Didn’t you catch it or did I miss you?

"I caught it. I was just teasing you," he said, leaning over to kiss her.

When the race started, Glory and Alamgeer were side by side in the middle of the pack. Slowly Glory Rose’s jockey inched her to the rail and through the other horses. Alamgeer moved to the outside, making his way up the track. At the halfway point, Alamgeer was in fifth and Glory Rose was fourth. By the time they reached the final quarter of the race, Glory Rose was in second and Alamgeer was in fourth.

Sadir was quietly watching the race through binoculars. Jaxon was on her feet cheering on Glory Rose while Tariq nudged his brother to get his attention. He pointed to Jaxon.

"I think she is feeling very well now!" Tariq said, chuckling.

Sadir, stood up with her putting his hands around her waist. "Calm down, Princess."

"I’m fine, Prince, dear," she said, "Come on Glory you can take it all!"

Just a few yards from the finish line, Glory took the lead with Alamgeer right behind her. It looked as if the race was going to be a photo finish again but at the last moment Alamgeer stumbled slightly giving Glory Rose the victory.

Both Sadir and Jaxon were worried about Alamgeer. Even though he recovered fast from the stumble, there still could have been damage to him. Tariq volunteered to go check on Alamgeer while Sadir took Jaxon to the winner’s circle.

Jaxon was thrilled to finally receive the trophy her grandmother coveted, but never won. She was crying when they made the presentation. She was asked to say a few words but was too emotional to do so. She asked Sadir to speak for her.

"I know this is highly unusual for a competitor to speak for the winner, but I think I know what my wife wants said. She would like to accept this trophy in honor of her grandmother, Gloria McLaughlin. As you might have thought, Glory Rose was named in her honor as well. Jaxon had a feeling this horse was the one to bring this trophy to the estate and she was right."

Jaxon gave him a kiss with cameras capturing the intimate moment between them. Little did she know that the next day the kiss would be on every news segment and in the morning papers. In one paper there was an added announcement that they had the scoop on the fact the Prince and Princess Abal were having a baby."

"How did they know? We haven’t made the announcement yet," Jaxon said, reading the paper at the hospital.

Sadir took the paper away from her and threw it in the trashcan. "You are to rest while they monitor you. I want you to leave the television off or keep it on the movie channel. No more news stories!"

"I love seeing the replays of Glory Rose winning. Can’t I watch it with the sound off?"

"No, my love. Please be a good girl until we go home."

"Then can I be a naughty girl with my husband?" she said slyly.

"Only if the doctors give you and the baby a clean bill of health. I don’t want anything to happen to either of you."

"I really am feeling fine. I haven’t been dizzy or felt sick since last night. Maybe it was just a one time thing."

"I hope it was. However, I would like to get the doctor’s opinion."

"Okay, I will listen to the doctor, if and when he ever lets me out of here. I knew he would keep me here a long time. If I had done this when it first happened I would have missed the race."

"Yes, I see you were right again."

"You haven’t said if Alamgeer is going to be okay or not."

"I didn’t want to bother you. He didn’t have any injuries from the slip. No one can figure out why he slipped in the first place. My people checked the track and found nothing unusual."

"Maybe he wanted Glory to win," she said, laughing.

"You think what you wish," he said, laughing too.

"May we go to our other home. I miss Sebastian."

"Of course we can. Would you like to stay there for a while?"

"If we could for a week or so. I have some things there I would like to sort through," she said, yawning.

"I will call my secretary have him pack clothes for me. Do you want anything from there?"

"No, I have plenty to wear at home."

"You still think of it as home?"

"Yes, it has so many memories associated with it. Does it upset you?"

"No. I understand. For me anywhere is home as long as you are there," Sadir said, kissing her.

"I guess that is true for me too, but the estate calls to me at times. I’m being silly, aren’t I?"

"No, you are speaking from the heart. You love your home and we can stay there as long as you wish," he said.

"Or until you get homesick," she said, smiling. She started to yawn again. "I think while we are waiting for the doctor to show up I am going to take a nap."

"Good idea. Move over and I will take one with you."

The doctor released her the next morning with the condition she would call if she had any more dizziness. Through the rest of the pregnancy, Sadir and his niece Asma watched Jaxon closely. The months seemed to fly by them with taking birthing classes and decorating the nursery.

The holidays were approaching and so was Jaxon’s due date. They had moved into their new home centered on the property line of their estates. Sebastian was now head of all the combined estate workers and enjoying his new role immensely. He had more time to take care of Jaxon personally, while others took over the household duties he used to perform alone at the McLaughlin estate.

Jaxon was sitting with Sadir and Asma while they watched the house being transformed into a winter wonderland. Jaxon was feeling tired and decided to go up to her room for a nap. When she stood, her water broke.

"Oh my! I guess its time to go to the hospital," she said slightly stunned.

"Are you in pain, my dear?" Sadir asked.

"Not yet," she answered.

"I’ll have the limo brought around," Sadir said, helping her to sit back down.

"Sebastian, will you go get the bag we packed?"

"Yes, Madame. This is not a drill people, the princess is ready to leave for the hospital," Sebastian said to the others as he left the room. Each of them went off to their assigned baby duties.

"He is so organized," Asma said, holding Jaxon’s hand.

"That is why I love him so much," Jaxon said, smiling.

"The limo is here. Let me help you out, darling." Sadir helped her to her feet, then slowly walked her to the door where her first contraction hit.

"OH MY GOD!" she screamed, doubling over in pain.

"Breathe through the pain. Remember the birthing lessons we took," Sadir said, rubbing her back during the contraction.

"Take no offense in what I say, dear," she said, breathing heavily. "Shove your classes up you ass!"

"Pay her no mind, Sir. It is the pain speaking," Sebastian said, bringing the suitcase down.

"I know it was part of the classes," Sadir said with a slight chuckle placing Jaxon’s coat around her shoulders.

"Okay," she said after the pain subsided. "Get me to the hospital. NOW!"

Sadir picked her up while Asma opened the front door. He carefully walked out to the limo sliding her into the back seat. Asma and Sadir sat on each side of her. Sebastian climbed into the front with the driver. There was no way he was going to miss the birth of his Madame’s baby.

Jaxon was settled into a private room. As private as you could get with Sadir, Asma, Sebastian fussing over her. It was a surprise when Andrea showed up with Prince Tariq. Andrea quickly explained they arrived at the same time and shared the elevator.

"I wasn’t aware you were in town, brother," Sadir said, greeting him, while Andrea went to see her friend. "She is having a rough go of it."

"Princess Jaxon, you look beautiful," he said, walking over to kiss her cheek.

"Liar!" Jaxon spit out.

"Girlfriend that is not the best way to accept a compliment," Andrea said.

"Bite me!" Jaxon said with another contraction coming on.

"She is not in the best of spirits, Uncle Tariq," Asma said, hugging him.

"How about we give mother and father some time alone for a few moments," Tariq suggested.

"She wants to see the birth," Jaxon snapped while another contraction ran through her. "Get, this baby out of me!" she screamed.

"It has been five hours," Asma informed Tariq when a nurse came in to check her.

The nurse smiled when she checked her dilation. "I’ll get the doctor and we’ll get you moved to the delivery room, Princess Abal."

"Thank God!" she said, panting heavily.

"Prince Sadir if you will come with me I will get you ready to be with her," the nurse said, showing him out of the room.

Tariq stepped over to where Sadir had been standing holding her hand. "Have you thought of any names for the young Prince or Princess?"

"A few. We will decide when we look at the baby," she answered when another contraction came. She squeezed Tariq’s hand with a force that caused him to wince.

When the contraction was over, Tariq slipped his hand from hers and rubbed the pain from it. He was relieved when the orderlies came in to take her. Asma went out the door with him where they were met by Sebastian. The three of them were shown to the delivery room observation area to watch the delivery. Normally they would have been in the same room, but there was not enough room for them. There where two doctors and four nurses there, per Sadir’s orders for Jaxon and the baby to be well taken care of during the birth.

Within a half hour, Jaxon was holding her new baby boy with Sadir beaming over them. Tevin Sadir Abal was named after the two men in Jaxon’s life. Tevin was Sebastian’s middle name and of course, her husband’s name was the middle name for their son.

Jaxon was now the happiest woman in the world. Never, when she was growing up, did she ever think she would have such a large family. She had married a prince and given him a son. She and Sadir also adopted Asma officially giving them one each. In a surprising move, Tariq married Andrea and moved into Sadir’s old estate. Ten months later, they were blessed with twins: one girl, one boy.

The friendly competition between the Abal brothers continued throughout the years, with Jaxon and Andrea joining the wagering from time to time. They became a force to be reckoned with in the horse industry breeding many champion horses. Most of them to bring home trophies to the Abal McLaughlin Estates. Including the Kentucky Derby trophy Sadir won two straight years after their son’s birth. Sadir’s trophies were placed side by side with Jaxon’s. On the shelf above the trophies was a picture of Gloria McLaughlin watching over them and the family.